Tate & Lyle cautious over US

6th Nov 2009 07:28

Interim profits slumped at Tate & Lyle, with the sugar and sweeteners group cautioning that US markets remain under pressure.Sales in the half year to September increased by 7% to £1.82bn. Adjusted operating profit reduced by 1% (16% in constant currency) to £148m, with underlying profit before tax down by 13% (25% in constant currency) to £112m.Pre-tax profit dived 59% to £50m reflecting exceptional costs of £55m following the decision to mothball the sucralose plant in McIntosh, Alabama. Chief executive Javed Ahmed added that overall Tate's performance, before the impact of exchange translation, remains on track to meet its expectations for the full year.Food & Industrial Ingredients businesses in the Americas and Europe have seen the order patterns of our food and beverage customers re-established, albeit at slightly lower levels, he added. However, global industrial starch, US ethanol and US animal feed markets remain under pressure. "We expect continuing underlying growth in Sucralose and improved profits from Sugars in the second half. As usual, the outcome of the 2010 calendar year sweetener pricing rounds will influence performance in the last quarter of the financial year," he concluded.The interim dividend is unchanged at 6.8p.